TODAY IN HISTORY: MAY 26

May 26 1896: Czar Nicholas II crowned
Nicholas II, the last czar, was crowned ruler of Russia in the old Ouspensky Cathedral in Moscow.

Nicholas was neither trained nor inclined to rule, which did not help the autocracy he sought to preserve in an era desperate for change. Born in 1868, he succeeded to the Russian throne upon the death of his father, Czar Alexander III, in November 1894. That same month, the new czar married Alexandra, a German-born princess who came to have great influence over her husband. After a period of mourning for his late father, Nicholas and Alexandra were crowned czar and czarina in May 1896.

As the ruler of Russia, Nicholas resisted calls for reform and sought to maintain czarist absolutism; although he lacked the strength of will necessary for such a task. The disastrous outcome of the Russo-Japanese War led to the Russian Revolution of 1905, which Nicholas only diffused after approving a representative assembly–the Duma–and promising constitutional reforms. The czar soon retracted these concessions and repeatedly dissolved the Duma, contributing to the growing public support enjoyed by the Bolsheviks and other revolutionary groups.

In 1914, Nicholas led his country into another costly war–World War I–and discontent grew as food became scarce, soldiers became war-weary, and devastating defeats at the hands of Germany demonstrated the ineffectiveness of Russia under Nicholas. In 1915, the czar personally took over command of the army, leaving the Czarina Alexandra in control at home. Her unpopular court was dominated by the Russian mystic Rasputin, who replaced the czar’s competent ministers and officials with questionable nominees.

May 26 1924: Coolidge signed stringent immigration law
On this day in 1924, President Calvin Coolidge signed into law the Comprehensive Immigration Act, the most stringent immigration policy up to that time in the nation’s history.

The new law reflected the desire of Americans to isolate themselves from the world after fighting the terrible First World War in Europe, which exacerbated growing fears of the spread of communist ideas. It also reflected the pervasiveness of racial discrimination in American society at the time. Many Americans saw the enormous influx of largely unskilled, uneducated immigrants during the early 1900s as causing unfair competition for jobs and land. Under the new law, immigration remained open to those with a college education and/or special skills, but entry was denied to Mexicans, and disproportionately to Eastern and Southern Europeans and Japanese. At the same time, the legislation allowed for more immigration from Northern European nations such as Britain, Ireland and Scandinavian countries. A quota was set that limited immigration to two percent of any given nation’s residents already in the U.S. as of 1890, a provision designed to maintain America’s largely Northern European racial composition. In 1927, the “two percent rule” was eliminated and a cap of 150,000 total immigrants annually was established.

The law particularly angered Japan, which in 1907 had forged with U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt a “Gentlemen’s Agreement,” which included more liberal immigration quotas for Japan. By 1924, strong U.S. agricultural and labor interests–particularly from California, which had already passed its own exclusionary laws against Japanese immigrants–favored the more restrictive legislation signed by Coolidge. The Japanese government viewed the American law as an insult, and protested by declaring May 26 a national day of humiliation in Japan. The law fanned anti-American sentiment in Japan, inspiring a Japanese citizen to commit suicide outside the American embassy in Tokyo in protest.

May 26 1926
Rebel leader Abd al-Krim, based at Targuist in the Rif mountains of Morocco, surrendered to Marshal Philip Petain, leader of the Franco-Spanish forces. The combined French, Spanish, and Moroccan forces aligned against Krim totalled 250,000. Krim commanded almost 30,000. He is to be exiled on the French island of Reunion, in the Indian Ocean.

May 26 1937
Egypt joined the League of Nations as its 59th member.

May 26 1954
Kamal el-Mallakh, an Antiquities Service inspector at the Great Pyramid, Giza, discovered Khufu's (Cheops) boat. It will be more than ten years before the royal barque is successfully reconstructed.

May 26 1957
The Algerian vice-president, Ali Chekkal, was assassinated by Algerian Nationalists whilst attending the French football cup final.

May 26 1967
Egyptian premier Gamal Abdel Nasser vowed to destroy Israel if war is provoked.

May 26 1977
Official end of the Shaba War in Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo).

May 26 1980
Fifty-two demonstrating church leaders were arrested in South Africa.

May 26 1989
A death sentence was handed down on 14 blacks for the murder of a black police constable who fired at demonstrators.

Source: history.com, africanhistory.about.com